Welcome to the final installment of the Weekly Photo Challenge. In wishing you a fond farewell, we wanted to share our all-time favorite photos with you. We welcome you to share your favorites with us. Happy photographic trails!

In this shot, I captured the stars above the mountains just outside of Boulder, Colorado, USA. Views like this remind oneself of just how infinitesimal humans really are in the grand scheme of things. I’m always filled with wonder, curiosity, and hope when I’m able to settle my life and just enjoy the expanse of the cosmos above. — Jeff(Shot details: 20 seconds @ f/2.8 12mm ISO 12800 Custom WB. Shot with a Fuji x-t2 and Rokinon wide-angle 12mm f/2.8)

I love this shot of runners as they turn onto Fifth Avenue for the final few miles of the New York City marathon: the sea of people, the riot of color, the perspective, the Empire State Building peeking through the threes. (Thanks, neon athletic gear, for making photo filters unnecessary!) And I love the memory of taking it: the satisfaction-by-proxy that came from being surrounded thousands of jubilant people about to successfully complete a huge undertaking. It was the perfect image for an “Achievement”-themed photo challenge. — Michelle

Sedona, Arizona, was one of the most unique places I’ve ever visited. When I think of nature, I always think of lush, green forests, which are such a contrast to the dry, red/brown desert of the American Southwest. In this picture, I love the contraposition of the bright red and green of the landscape against the bright blue sky. To me, it simultaneously shows the serenity of the location, as well as its power. I loved using it for the “Elemental” prompt, showcasing the diversity of our planet. — Erica

I featured this image of a woman walking in the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul for my first photo challenge, “Solitary,” in 2012. It reminds me of what I’ve always loved about exploring and taking pictures — observing quietly and enjoying the meditative, intimate act of looking through a lens. — Cheri

Some photos stay with you because you’re delighted with how they came out. Others are meaningful because they remind you of a special moment. This photograph of the Trấn Quốc Pagoda in Hanoi, Vietnam, checks both boxes. I love the color and seriality of the pagoda’s design, set against the clouds for effortless Instagramability; I’m also filled with joy when I remember a week spent working and roaming the streets of Hanoi with a group of wonderful people. — Ben

Summer, for me, is steeped in carefree, untroubled moments. When I see pictures of summers at the lake, I am immersed in the strongest of memories. It’s an escape. It’s nostalgia incarnate. I love it so much. — Sheri

Watching the lights of passing cars in Lanzarote, Spain, on a January evening was magical. I was there with a friend and we were both in shorts and T-shirts. I’m used to cold and dreary winter evenings so this was wonderful — but I have to admit the air started to get nippy after the sun set! This image is made from multiple photos merged together. — Donncha(Canon 6D, 24-105mm lens)

This was one of my first photo challenges, “Shadowed,” and it remains my favorite. My son and I were playing on the floor in a corner of our living room, next to a large window. The light and shadow on his face adds a beautiful moodiness and depth to an otherwise ordinary child portrait. This little boy will be five years old very soon! — Jen

This image of sunlight passing through these old glass bottles inspired my photo challenge “Ephemeral” in March 2015. For 11 months and two weeks of the year, these bottles occasionally refract electric lighting if we happen to occupy this room. These three second-hand bits of glass convey ephemeral to me in two ways: the angle of the sun must be just right for its light to illuminate the bottles, and even then, these colors appear only for a short time during late afternoons. It’s the time of year when winter has lost its grip as spring takes hold, a time of hope in what can feel like a bleak season. — Krista

When I suggested starting the Weekly Photo Challenge in 2011 (most of the early prompt topics came from me and then I started publishing them directly later that year) I never thought we’d still be doing it each week, more than seven years later! Photography and words are a wonderful way to express ourselves and while we respond to the writing, our eyes crave something visual, too. I hope you continue to express yourselves and reveal the “Layers” you have within. — Sara

It was always a delight watching the photo posts.. Not everybody will have visited the places shared here. Every time i saw a place or a nature post, my imaginations virtually took me there.. U will be missed for sure..

Thank you for everything you have done here! With the Weekly Photo Challenge you created a special place where bloggers could ‘meet’ and share their photographs. I have met many wonderful photographers and bloggers through this weekly challenge and I am grateful it was here for as long as it was. Wishing you all the best for the future :o)

Good-bye. I didn’t know you were going to end and with that, I hold a heavy heart in posting my last comment.

I found so much joy in participating in the WPCs. I can’t believe that we’ll never have one again. Thank you for all of your hard work. I fondly remember participating in it when I first started my blog 5 years ago and had never missed a week. I still remember when it used to be held on Fridays and how at first I wasn’t used to it but quickly found a routine in the Wednesday posts.

Tina I wish I could be so “decent” as you at finding out this news. I am not swearing at anybody but really the decision to stop daily posts and in my case specifically the weekly photo post really deletes value from WordPress. My comment is about 2 comments down. i was actually thinking of you when I made the comment

I am totally shocked that this is coming to a close. This is seriously disturbing. I posted in line with actual theme and wrote a blog to intersect with the actual theme and photos. For some bloggers their total blogging experience consists of the Weekly photo challenge. Effectively this decision deletes the blogging experience for these bloggers. As for me I am an Afrikaans speaking blogger from South Africa and the weekly photo challenge was my opportunity to interact with the international community. Is WordPress in financial trouble? Are my other posts safe or must I find another platform a.s.a.p. ? Abrie Joubert abriejoubert.wordpress.com

I understand your concern for your posts and your site — you’ve put a lot of effort into it. Your posts are safe and your site is safe. We wrote about the change here. This site and its archives will stay online. There are over 375 photo challenges in the archives so we’ve still got a fairly deep well of inspiration for bloggers and photographers.

With respect Krista to inform people on the 24th of May that you are stopping by the end of the month without any consultation is certainly not how things are done in a modern era. Maybe that is how Trump does things but that is not how a community which wordpress hammers on does things. There are no spesific reason set out why it is closing. This is not helping WordPress “to be great”. I have referred many people to WordPress to start a blog rather than blogger because of the Weekly photo blog. This desicion has got to be financial and if it is financial then their is trouble in paradise. Free blogger services are going to decline with a focus on revenue and it will kill the “community”

I’ll miss this challenge. Through it, I’ve been challenged to look at my own work more critically, but more importantly, I’ve been introduced to and started to follow bloggers whom I’m unlikely otherwise to have ‘met’. It’s been stimulating and fun. Thank you, Team WordPress. But is there any reason to stop? Looking at the comments, many of us would like you to continue…..

As a marathoner, I absolutely love that running picture! Though appreciation goes out not only to all the other photographs, but to every picture that has been posted over the years. Glad to have been part of the community and to have “met” so many like-minded people. Here’s my entry for this last week:https://curiouscat99.wordpress.com/2018/05/30/of-photographs-and-memories/

What a wonderful sequence of images, reflecting the personality of each of you. I have my favourites but I won’t choose. It will be interesting to see the images people select. Many thanks for years of fun. 🙂 🙂

Final installment!?😢 I’m gutted. I joined in from the early days with Sara and, aside from a year in hiatus, I participated in tons of the photo challenges and got my readers, friends, and family stoked about the range of themes. Thank you WordPress staff for this incredible creative outlet. It will be sorely missed by me and many others.💜💜💜🤘🙏🏾🤘

I’m among the disappointed with the way WordPress has put a finish point to this great space of communication among us. We had no time to react. All the building of a community of bloggers is gone in a snap. I don’t know what are the real reasons, because the explanations have seen insufficient. Only, it seems that there are other priorities, and we, the common bloggers are no longer so important to them. We have had a great time while it lasted and I certainly will miss the challenge, the daily prompt and the people I met here.

Sorry for posting twice. Your leaving messed with head, I think. (If you delete one of the posts, please delete the earlier one.) I’m gonna miss this challenge. It was a great inspiration. And I am really glad that the site will stay online – I can go back and look at many of the photos I have missed.